WZ-122 Main Battle Tank | |
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![]() Project 122 tank prototype | |
Type | Main Battle Tank |
Place of origin | China |
Production history | |
No. built | Only several prototypes |
Specifications | |
Mass | ≤37.5 Tonnes (1970 blueprint)[1] |
Length | Unknown |
Width | Unknown |
Height | Unknown |
Crew | 4 |
Armor | Unknown |
Main armament | Experimental 120mm smoothbore tank gun |
Secondary armament | 1 × 12.7 mm AA MG 1 × 7.62 mm MG 4 × Anti-tank guided missile |
Engine | Diesel 650–680 hp (480–510 kW) (in 1970s plan) |
Suspension | Hydropneumatic suspension (WZ-122A) torsion-bar (WZ-122B) |
The WZ-122 (Chinese: WZ-122主戰坦克) was a main battle tank developed by the People's Republic of China. With its development starting in March 1970, the WZ-122 would implement several experimental technologies, including hydromatic transmission system, hydropneumatic suspension and the world's first 120mm smoothbore gun, as an effort to develop China's first indigenous second-generation main battle tank.[2] After several prototypes were built, the plan was largely abandoned in 1974.[3]
The development was reinstated in 1977 and into the 1980s with several prototypes such as the WZ-1224 and WZ-1226. Most of the prototypes were not accepted into production due to reliability and technology issues (with the exception of Type 80), still, WZ-122 project provided a technological basis for the development of various later Chinese vehicles, such as China's own third-generation main battle tank, the ZTZ-96 and ZTZ-99.